Plate heat exchanger



July 1, 1952 R L. HYTTE 2,601,974

' PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Sept. 18, 1947 INVENTOR. Ti 5 ROBERT PONTUS LARSSON HYTTE BY 3w, AL *7 Atibrne s Patented July I, 1952 2,601,974 r v PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER Robert P. Larsson Hytte, Lundjsweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget separator, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden H Application September 18,1947, seesaw-s52. In SwedenDecember 9,1939, r

Section 1, Public Law 690, August8, 1946 Patent expires December 9,1959' 12 Claims. (Cl. 257-245) This invention, relates toheat exchangers of the type-in which: the exchange of heat is eifected through the intermediary'of .a number of plates arranged side by side and between which channels are formed for the fluids between which the heat exchange is to take: place. The plates: at present employed, often consist of pressed. sheet material which is rather thin, for

instance of '1 mm. or slightly heavier gauge. A

number of such plates are usually assembled to form a set which is fixed between end plates of heaviergauge. The latter, one;v of which may be in the form of a frame carrying the plates,are screwed together by means of rods which are also used for supporting the plates, one of the rods usually being positioned above the other. At the top of the plates are provided with a hole by means of which they are suspended from the .upper rod, and at the lower side is a groove or recess fitting over the, lower rod, The plates thus hang on the upper rod and are also properly positioned by the lower rod. p

In plate heat exchangers of this type it has been found that a good deal of work is entailed inreplacing a damaged plate by a new one, the replacement necessitating disassembly of the whole machine. Moreover; not only the replacement of damaged plates but also the first assembly operation'of the apparatus has proved to entail complications owing to the construction referred to above. It has been proposed to provide each individual plate with hooks or other carrier members which enable the plates to rest on one or more rods, and in some types of apparatus this construction has also-been introduced in practice. In such a construction the plates can be removed from the apparatus after unscrewing the clamping members and without further disassembly of the apparatus. When plates of thin pressed sheet material, however, are utilized in such a construction, it becomes necessary to provide the plates with hooks or other members made of material considerably thicker than the plate, which entails great expense. 'Plates of pressed sheet material have therefore, generally speaking, continued to be constructed in practice with a hole in the upper part of the plate by means of which the plate is suspended from a rod.

According to the present invention, the inconveniences referred to are. avoided by providing each of the plates with a seat and abolt or other movable'retaining member lodged in; or against the seat, the plate being suspended fromthesirod iby means of saidbolt or othermemben. --Thus, the bolt or other'member, rests on the prodz-and takes the place of the. upper rimof the hole through which therod passes. Thesbolt-lmay, for example, carry the plate by means of one-or two, or possibly more, bent portions of the. plate which are supported by the bolt. The bent portions may advantageously be in the formpf bows or hooks embracing the bolt. v

This suspension arrangement. easily enables anyof the plates to be removed by 'drawing'or moving the bolt or other memberout of its po sition in the plate, the-latter thereby being freed so that it canbe moved downwardly and out .of the set of'plates. ,7

Embodiments of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which I Figu're 1 is a'front elevation of one construction of plate and suspension arrangement; according to the invention. 1:1;

Figure ,2 is a vertical section on a larger scale of. the top;- portion of Figure. 1, showing the method of suspending the plate fromthe. bolt: by which it is'suspended from the-usual rodp': Figure 3 is a vertical section of the upper portion of a set of four platesv suspended. in accordance with the invention from a rod from i which it is obvious thatthey-are readily removable,,and 'sii' I Figuresr4 and 5 area front elevation and plan, respectively, on alarger scale, of a modified arrangement. j c

Referring .to Figures land 2, at its upper part the plate I is provided with agrooveor recess 2, forming together with a bolt 3 a suspension arrangement forthe plate. The bolt-.3 is embraced by two hooks or bows 4, formed by bonding tongues at the upper part of theplate-as illustrated in Figure 21 The said upperportion of the plate need not, of course, be bent round the bolt 3 as shown in Figure 2 and it is sulficient if any kind of hook, bow or other "formation of the plate is provided to form as'eat for the bolt by means of which the plate is suspended tance into the groove 2.

charhfered edge l2 at the inner end of from the rod. The bolt may at its one end be provided with a loop 5, into the aperture of which a hook or other tool can be inserted when the bolt is to be drawn out of the hooks or bows 4. As an alternative, the bolt may be provided at its opposite end with a projection 6, which prevents the bolt being extracted from the hooks or bows 4 too easily or by inadvertence. The bolt may, if desired, be threaded at one end. It should rest on the rod 1, and as shown in Fig. i it may be provided with a recess 3' fitting against the rod, the surface of the bolt contacting with the rod thereby being considerably larger than if the bolt were provided with a straight lower surface. As an alternative, the.

rod may be provided with a plane surface .on'its upper side.

Referring to Figure 3, a set of four plates is shown suspended on the rod 1 and it will be irnmediately understood that any plate canbe re-' moved from the rod 1 by drawing out the bolt.

3 of the plate, without having to extract the rod from the plates.

Referring to the modified arrangement shown '7 in Figures 4 and 5, instead of a bolt movable in its longitudinal direction, a locking or retaining member'S is used which is vertically movable in the groove 2 and can be freed from the plate I only'after the rod 1 has been pressed some dis- The member 8 is pro vided'with a groove 9 in each'of itsends which embraces the edges ID of the groove or recess 2 which'are thereby guided in the groove. upper end of the groove or recess a projection At the H, consisting of a lug pressed in the material of the plate I, is provided on each side thereof against which the ends of the member 8 lie. The plate rests on the member 8 by means of the projections H, the said member in turn being supported by the rod 1.

When'the plate I is to be removed from the rod, it is first forced upwards, i. e. the rod I is pressed inwardly towards the bottom of the groove 2. Then one of the ends of the member 8 can be swung into the groove and disengaged from. .theedges l0.

In order to facilitate this disengagement and'make it possible to use a 'groove'z of lesser depth, the member 8 is provided with a one or both of the grooves 9.

I claim:

1. In a, plate heat exchanger, the combination ofasupporting rod, a plurality of heat exchange plates'made of thin pressed sheet material and havin openings through which the rod extends, each plate having a seat integral with the plate, and a, movable retaining member engaging each seatto suspend the plate, each retaining member resting upon said rod and being movable relative to its stationary plate seat in a plane normal to the rod to allow the plate to be removed from the other plates and the rod, each plate and its retaining member having an interlockingiconnection securing them against relative movement in either direction along the rod. V

2. A combination according 'to claim 1, in whichthe intermediate portion of each retaining member rests upon the rod, the end portions of each retaining member engaging the plate seat. 3'. A I combination according to claim 1, in which the movable retaining members are bolts, said seat for each plate being formed by at least one tongue extending from the plate and bent around the bolt, the tongue forming a hook embracing the bolt.

4. A combination according to claim 1, in which the movable retaining members are bolts, each bolt having at one end an aperture adapted to receive a tool for drawing the bolt from its plate seat.

5. A combination according to claim 1, in which the movable retaining members are bolts, each bolt having at one end a loop forming an aperture adapted to receivera-i tool f or drawing the bolt from its plateseat, thejloop'xa-lso forming a shoulder engageable with the plate.

6. A combination according to claim 1, in which the movable retaining members are bolts, 'each bolt having at one end an enlargement forming a shoulder for preventing accidental .movenient of; the bolt from its plate seat, said I enlar'gement being suihciently small to be drawn along the plate seat.

' 7. A combination according to claim 1, in which each retaining member has an arcuate recess adjacent the rod and into which the rod fits.

'8. Acombination according to claim 1, in which 7 said plate openings for the rod are slots, the side edges of each slot andthe ends of the retaining member for the corresponding plate having vertical tongue-and-groove slidin connections in the plane ofthe plate, the endportions of the retaining member engagingthe seat, said sliding connections acting to secure th'eretaining member against'other than vertical movement rela- 'tivetothe plate. f

9. A combination according to claim 1, in which said plate openings for the rod are slots, each re;- taining member having in each end a generally vertical groove receiving one sideedge of the slot in the corresponding plate, the grooves acting with said side edges to secure the retaining member against other than vertical movement relative 'to the plate, thefend portions ofthe retaining member engaging'the seat.

l0. A'combination according to claim 1, in which said plate openings for the rod areslots, each retaining member having in each enda generally ver'ticaligroove receiving one side edge of the slot in thecorresponding plate, the grooves acting with said side edges to. secure the. retaining member against other than vertical movement relative to the plate, and projections on each plate adjacent the side edges of the slot, the retaining member engaging said projections .to support the plate on the rod.

11. A combination according to claim l, in which said plate openings for the rod are slots, each retaining member having in each end a generally vertical groove receiving one side edge of the slot in the corresponding plate, the grooves acting with said side edges to secure the retaining'member' against other than vertical movement relative to the plate, and lugs pressed in the material of each plate adjacent the side edges of the slot, the retainingmember engaging said lugs to support the plate on the rod. 12. A- combination accordingto claim 1; in whichsaid plate openings for the rod are slots, each retaining member having in each end a generally vertical groove receiving one side edge of the slot in the corresponding plate, the grooves acting with said-side edges to secure the retaining member against other than vertical 'movement relative't'o theplate, at least one end of each retaining'member having a chamfered'e'dge adjacent the groove therein, for facilitating disengagement of the retaining member'frc'm' the plate, the end portions of the retaining member Number engaging the seat. 1,142,021 ROBERT P. LARSSON HY'ITE. 1,359,162 2,252,916 REFERENCES CITED 5 The following references are of record in the N b file of this patent: 3 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 800:478 Number Name Date 10 52,142

440,671 Weisel Nov. 18, 1890 Name Date Chambers June 8, 1915 Genter Nov. 16, 1920 Crosby Aug. 19, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Oct. 24, 1940 France July 6, 1936 Netherlands Sept. 14, 1936 

